Gender Identity

1. Gender Identity Where does it come from?

2. Basic Concepts • Sex - biological distinction between females and males - sex characteristics include chromosomes, anatomy, hormones, and other physical traits • Gender - social and psychological characteristics associated with being male or female • Gender identity - perception of self as a woman or man, masculine or feminine

3. Sex category - sex that others assign to a person based on her/his socially recognized indicators of being a woman/man - indicators usually, but not always, correspond to biological sex

4. Things to Keep in Mind • To what degree do biological (sex) or social (gender) factors determine gender identity? - biological only, social only, or some combination? - if combination, what is relative importance? • Which is greater, the difference between women and men, or the difference within each group? - consider both the mean (average) and variance (spread) - question not only whether there is a difference between men and women, but how large it is and whether there is overlap between the groups

5. Think about continuums rather than dichotomies - e.g., Kinsey sex scale • Think about femininities and masculinities instead of Femininity and Masculinity - what is considered feminine or masculine may vary over time or place - gender identity combines with other identities—race, class, sexuality—to produce different femininities/masculinities

6. Theories of Gender Identity: Biological Determinism • Hormonal Influences - during gestation, the level of androgens (male hormones like testosterone) determines whether a fetus develops into a female or male - some scientists assert that androgen levels also cause brains to be organized differently, producing behavioral differences later in life

7. Ehrhardt, 1985 - girls exposed to abnormally high levels of androgens during gestation showed greater interest in physical activity and less in dolls - boys exposed to high levels of female sex hormones were less interested in physical activity and played more with dolls

8. But: - both males and females have androgens, estrogens, and progestins; only their levels differ - high levels of androgens in girls and estrogens in boys can cause some degree of hermaphrodism, causing their parents to treat them differently - gestational hormone levels only account for about one-fourth of variation in gendered behavior

9. Biosocial Approach • Posits that gendered behavior results from both biological predispositions and social experiences - biologically based differences in gendered behavior exist ‘on average’; individuals show wide range of behavior - social influences can counteract biological predispositions

10. Psychoanalytic Approach • Stresses unconscious mental processes (internalization) and early caregiving • Infants become attached to and identify with their first caretaker • Boys soon realize that they are different from their mothers and must establish a male identity

11. Boys try to transfer their attachment and identity to their fathers, but instead distance themselves from their mothers • Girls have no need to put boundaries around their gender identities, and maintain their attachment to their mothers • “The basic feminine sense of self is connected to the world, the basic masculine sense of self is separate (Chodorow, 1978).” • This process will only change if men are as involved in parenting as women

12. But: - psychoanalytic approach criticized for reliance on clinical case histories - case histories do not constitute a sample that is representative of the population - individuals who seek psychotherapy are likely to be more troubled than other people

13. Gender Socialization • Gender role-different sets of behaviors, characteristics, attitudes, and feelings society expects of men and women • Socialization-process by which we learn the ways of a society or social group so that we can function within it

14. Socialization approach emphasizes conscious social learning • ‘Proper’ behavior is reinforced through rewards while inappropriate behavior is punished - children modify behavior in order to maximize rewards and minimize sanctions • Children learn proper behavior for girls and boys through parents, the media, peer groups, and other sources of socialization • At an early age, children develop stereotypical conceptions of both genders, and begin to use these conceptions to organize their knowledge and behavior

15. Parental Socialization • Parents are a primary socializing agent, especially when children are young • Starting at birth, parents treat girls and boys differently, and believe them to possess different characteristics

16. Rubin, Provenzano, and Luria, 1974 - in the first 24 hours after birth, parents described girls and boys differently, though there were no actual differences between them • Jacklin, 1984 - parents give sons toys that encourage invention and manipulation, while girls receive toys that emphasize caring and imitation • McHale et al., 1990 - parents assign boys maintenance chores, and give girls domestic tasks

17. Media Influences • Messages about gendered behavior and interactions are also conveyed through television, movies, magazines, and books • On average, each day a 4-year-old watches 2 hours of television and a 12-year-old watches 4 hours (Comstock and Scharrer, 2001) • Some European nations ban ads before, during, and after children’s television programming

18. Assignment • What toys/activities were marketed towards girls? Towards boys? Were any commercials clearly aimed at both groups? • What do these toys say about the kind of behavior expected of each group? • How did children interact with each other and with adults in the commercials? • Do you think the messages were similar to or different from the ones you received as a kid? • How do you think these messages will impact the children who see them?

19. Hedley, 1994 - gender role relationships in movies reflect male dominance • Posavac et al., 1998 - media commonly depicts the exploitation, victimization, and sexual objectification of women

20. Peer Groups • Between the ages of two and three, children sort themselves into same-sex peer groups - this sorting creates social distance between girls and boys, and reinforces gender stereotypes and gender-typed play - within groups, children learn the behaviors expected of them, try out these behaviors with peers, get feedback, and try again

21. Continual Construction of Gender • Gender is maintained and reinforced through everyday interaction and social performance • “Gender is not a set of traits, nor a role, but the product of social doings of some sort (West and Zimmerman, 1987)” • Interactions reflect ideas about gender roles, and ideas about gender reflect interactions